Warning Systems
by silvercoat
Summary: Cheap one-shot. Slightly AU here, could take place near the end of season 2.


A/N:  
One-shot, complete.  
Rated T  
Slightly AU here, could take place near the end of season 2.

**Warning Systems**

It was Sue's tantrum which briefly extended Saul's life. The two year old had struggled and screamed, and his daughter had given up in frustration, taking her son with her to the distant city, leaving Sue behind with Saul. Secretly he was rather relieved, having avoided a day of sightseeing, which as always would have turned into a shopping and eating trip, with more shouting and stress. Sue's tantrum had subsided as rapidly as it had begun, and Saul spent the next few hours playing in the back yard with his granddaughter, whom he had not seen for the best part of three months.

Back in the late '50s when Saul had been a young man, he'd been a distant observer of the final atmospheric tests in Nye County. Those memories had stayed with him forever, and when there came a brilliant flash in the sky, he knew that his daughter and grand son were dead. Sue had turned to stop and stare, squinting her eyes, having no understanding of the new sun that had appeared in the sky. A sun that was slowly fading to yellow, then orange. Saul snatched her up and held her to him, though she tried to wriggle free with the insatiable curiosity of a young child. It was too high up in the sky to be a terrorist bomb, he thought, and a second flash from further away confirmed his fears. As he ran to the house there were further flashes in the distance. He threw open the door and went into the kitchen. His heart was hammering in his chest, and he could feel the pain beginning. He was not sure how long they had before the winds brought the fallout to them. He tried to remain calm. They would need food, clean water. There was newly bought clothing in the car, along with the gardening supplies he had not yet unloaded. He put Sue down on the floor, she could sense the rising panic in her grandfather, but mercifully stayed quiet. He would need a bag, there was no time to get a suitcase from the loft, so he grabbed his daughters green paramedic bag from the table, and tipped out the contents. There would be no use for medical supplies if they did not have food, and there was the car kit for emergencies. He opened the cupboards and starting grabbing packets of dry food, pasta and cereals, sweeping them into the bag. Nothing from the fridge, he thought, nothing that could go off. He slung the bag over his shoulder, swept the keys from the table, and picked up a two gallon bottle of cooler water. As an after thought, he put it down and picked up his grandsons school bag, before picking up the water again.

"Sue." He called. "Lets go for a drive." She got up and and dutifully followed him in wide eyed wonder.

They had gone about a mile away from the house when he started thinking about all the things that he should have brought with them. More food and water. More medical supplies. Perhaps some warmer clothing, as he had read about nuclear winters. He glanced in the rear mirror, and the distant plumes of black cloud warned him about going back. He was unsure what they would find at the end of the road, apart from the sea of course. But he knew that there was nowhere else. They could not head towards the city behind them, and he could see further black clouds in the distance to left and right. Perhaps at the sea, there would be the chance of a boat, or rescue. But if America had been hit, would there be a rescue? Was this an isolated attack, or the whole world? He turned the radio on, but all he could find was static.

He had been driving for several hours, and the sun had set, leaving behind a blood red line on the horizon, when he caught the first faint flash of light ahead. A few seconds later it came again, sweeping out a beam across the sky. A lighthouse he thought. There would be shelter at a lighthouse. It signified hope, but it also marked the end of the road. They could go no further.

"A long time ago lighthouse keepers used to charge a penny a ton to passing ships. They were a warning system, for rocks that could have sunk them. The cost of running them was small compared to the cost of losing a ship. They saved a lot of lives." He needed to hear a voice, even just his own. "Strongly built to weather the worst storms that winter could throw at them."

He glanced down at Sue, she was sleeping curled up on the car seat, the safety belt near useless. The booster seat was in his daughters car. At the thought of his daughter and grandson, he felt a sharp pang of loss, of guilt. Though he knew that there had been nothing he could have done, the guilt was there nonetheless.

The light house was off to one side of the road. He saw a likely looking track and pulled off onto it. He rounded a corner, and pulled the car to a halt before the bungalow in front of the short squat tower. He had got out of the car, and slung the bag over his shoulder before he saw the girl. She was watching him from the door of the bungalow, she had a rifle trained on him.

"Are you a paramedic?" She called out.

"Yes." He lied. The gun made him nervous, he felt it better to give the answer she wanted.

"Come this way. We have need of your services." She walked towards him, shifting the gun to one hand, and reached for the car door.

"No!" He whispered loudly. "Leave her there if she's sleeping." Something made him think that Sue would be safer in the car, and she would be tetchy if woken up at this late hour. "Did you see the bombs going off? The black clouds? Has there been anything on the radio or TV?"

"Yes. Today is judgement day. It is too late for us to do anything now. Come this way."

The girl led him into the bungalow, he reached for the light switch, it clicked, but the lights stayed out. "Wait, I can't see, do you have a flash light or something?"

He could not see the girl in the darkness, but her voice came from close by him. "I forgot. I can see fine. The generator only powers the lighthouse, not the cottage. Wait here."

He heard her heavy footsteps going into another room. She struck a match, and he heard a hiss of gas. Then a warm glow from a hand held lantern.

"We have many supplies, Charley was efficient." She said. "Come this way, bring your medical bag."

As she led him along the hallway, he heard the sound of feeble coughing from a side room. He put one hand on the frame to enter the dark room, but the girl took his arm in a vice like grip.

"Sarah can wait. John is your higher priority." She said. "This way."

She pulled him into another room. A small man lay still on the bed. Saul put the bag down.

"Lift the lantern please." He asked, and as the girl raised the light he got a better view of his patient. Not a man, a teenage boy, and something was wrong.

Saul reached out a hand to feel for a pulse. He jerked his hand back when he touched the boys wrist. It was cold.

"Is something wrong?" The girl asked.

"I think he's dead."

"No. He is sleeping. He cannot be dead. I must keep him alive."

"How did this happen?" He asked.

"We were watching television. John fell against me. He had been concerned for Sarah, and I thought he wanted comforting. But he was sleeping, has been sleeping ever since."

A girl in his daughters school had died the same way, many years ago. Sudden death syndrome they had called it.

"I think you should prepare yourself for the worst." He said.

"I am always prepared." She replied. "Perhaps you should look into your medical equipment?"

"No. Nothing in there can help." Saul held the bag closer to him, but the girl reached forward and took it from him, pulling it from his grip with ease.

She opened the bag part way and a packet of rice fell onto the floor. She opened the bag fully and tipped the contents onto the floor.

"These are food supplies. You are not carrying medical equipment. Are you sure you are a paramedic?" She took a pace towards him, suddenly threatening.

Saul thought back to his time in the army. "I have some training yes, and I'm telling you, this boy is dead. It does not take a doctor to see that. You have another patient, I must see to them." He turned to the door.

"Mommy?" Sue was standing by the door rubbing her eyes.

"Don't worry sweety." Saul picked her up, and she clung to him. Drifting back to sleep in his arms. The strain of picking her up had started the pain in his chest again.

"There is a comprehensive medical kit in the kitchen. I shall fetch it. Wait here." The girl left the room, leaving the lantern behind. She walked off into the darkness.

Saul picked up the hissing lantern and went back down the hallway to the other room. A few moths were already fluttering about the lantern. Drawn by the light, they were oblivious to the danger of the flame inside.

The woman on the bed was painfully thin, her skin was pale and clammy to his touch. She stirred as he touched her, and looked at him.

"Who..... Who are you?" She asked feebly.

"I'm called Saul, we were running from the bombs, and ended up here. Try and stay calm, do you know what's wrong with you?"

"Yes. Don't worry about me. Where's John? I've not seen him for ages. Cameron says he's sleeping. I'm worried." Then she registered what he had said. "Bombs?"

"The girl said something about judgement day?" As Saul said this this woman stiffened, then sank back onto the bed. She licked her dry lips, her breathing was shallow, and she struggled to get her words out.

"Then we've failed." She paused to gather strength. "You must help protect my son, John. Still hope left..."

Saul took her hand and gripped it firmly. "I'm so sorry. But your son, John, he's dead, in the other room. Died in his sleep I think. Your daughter has had some kind of mental breakdown, she can't accept the fact."

Sarah closed her eyes. "It's been malfunctioning." Then the tears overwhelmed her, and the racking sobs started shaking her body.

The noise made Sue stir gently in his arms, but she did not wake up.

"Sarah is dying." The voice came from behind him. "We have to allow for the contingency that John may not wake up when required. The current situation is not in my database. I am unsure of what to do. Please advise me."

Saul turned round. "What?" Breathing had become more difficult, he found himself taking short rapid breaths.

The girl was looking at him expectantly, her unblinking eyes staring at him.

"Ermm..." Another moth flew by him. "Switch the lighthouse off. I think it is too late to warn anyone." He looked at the girl, she was listening to him. "Can you look after a child? I have a lot to say, but I don't think I have much time." He sat down on the bed, and hugged his granddaughter closer to him.

**Epilogue:**

She finished the row of carrots, and stood up straight. Her back protesting slightly. Two more rows to go, then she could try and track down the hen that had escaped that morning. When she got the time she could make a longer lasting repair to the chicken run.

A shout broke her train of thought, and she looked up. The machine was looking down at her from outside the lantern room, pointing one arm out to sea.

She raised a hand to shield her eyes from the sun, and looked out. There was a faint smudge of white on the horizon.

The binoculars were still on the outside table, and through them the smudge resolved to a sail. Sailing boats were safe.

She ran to the beacon they had prepared years before, and started to light the fire.


End file.
